The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has called on the Education Ministry to consider discontinuing the Parents Association scheme in Senior High Schools if it is found to be undermining the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy. NAGRAT believes that the associations should be held accountable if their actions conflict with the government’s education agenda.
This call follows the recent interdiction of the headteachers of Ahantaman Senior High School and St. Roses Senior High School in Akwatia by the Ghana Education Service (GES). The headteachers were suspended due to allegations of collecting unauthorised fees from students, a move seen as a violation of the Free SHS policy.
NAGRAT argues that the fees in question were imposed by the Parents Association, not the school’s administration. They claim that the headteachers are being unfairly penalized for actions beyond their control, as these levies were not part of the schools’ internal decisions. NAGRAT President Angel Carbonu strongly condemned the sanctions imposed by the GES during a press conference on Wednesday, October 2.
He called for the immediate reinstatement of the two headteachers, stressing that their removal was unjust and based on misguided accusations. “With the coming in of the Free Senior High School, this role of the PTAs was abandoned. And what we have in the school is PA, that is, Parents Association without the teachers.”
“In the case in question, the PA among themselves, agreed on an amount of money to contribute for a purpose. If the ministry feels that the presence of the PAs is affecting negatively, the smooth running of the schools within the context of a free senior high school, the ministry can ban the formation of PAs outrightly.”
